Lenah Game Meats owner John Kelly gave a spoken submission to the Legislative Council’s wild fallow deer inquiry, that held public consultation sessions in November.

It’s believed the inquiry will hold another public session on February 4. 

The inquiry was launched in response to a research done by University of Tasmania researchers who suggested if left unchecked the population would spiral from 40,000 to more than one million by 2050.

Lenah Game Meats is a producer and marketer of game meats and has been involved in the industry for more than 20 years.

The producer supplies wallaby meat to more than 90 retail outlets and 40 restaurants on a weekly basis.

“I am a meat scientist and an agricultural scientist by training. I have worked in the deer industry in the United Kingdom and across Australia and prior to setting up Lenah, [I was] the specialist deer farming advisor for the Department of Agriculture in Tasmania,” Mr Kelly said.

Mr Kelly said there was significant “latent demand” for venison products that could come from Tasmania’s wild fallow deer population.

“I believe I could readily sell the entire Tasmanian crop protection quota if we had access to it,” he said.

Six sea containers of venison have been imported from New Zealand into Australia in the last three years and Mr Kelly said he brings in regular shipments of wild harvested venison from interstate into Tasmania.

“I'm at the stage now where I don't actively market venison because the product I'm getting I'm not satisfied with, it's not my own product, I don't process it so I can't do the things I want to do with it.”

He said he believed recreational shooters didn’t have a strong enough incentive to deliver the hunting pressure needed to control the population of wild fallow deer.

“Commercial shooting can deliver an additional incentive above that of recreational shooting which will increase the chance of the full crop protection quota being taken,” he said.

“As a commercial operator I’m not suggesting open-slather access to deer. That may be an option you guys might wish to consider but all I’m suggesting is that under the current system commercial access be made to crop protection limits.”

Mr Kelly refuted the suggestion of hygiene standards issues related to recreational and commercial harvest.

“You have been told by existing deer farmers and recreational shooters that we can't produce a quality product from wild harvested deer because the hygiene standards would be suspect. I must admit I find that one of the most insulting comments in all of the submissions. I get a lot of flak on this issue,” he said.

He said as a meat scientist and producer he processed 20,000 wallaby a year and supply to some of the best restaurants in the country.

“I know how to ensure the products I put into each type of package are suitable for the market I am sending them to. We harvest feral deer.

“I don't claim commercial access is a single solution. I think the existing problem needs other solutions, but I believe it clearly can be a part of the solution. The current system isn't working.”

The inquiry into the management of wild fallow deer is ongoing.